Neil Gaiman

You may have lied about reading Harry Potter, but there’s no shame in diving headlong into the comics, graphic novels and children’s literature of fantastical storyteller Neil Gaiman (Coraline, American Gods). Having recently released his first “adult” novel in eight years, Gaiman expertly tackles the fear and uncertainty of childhood in The Ocean at the End of the Lane. His Portland reading is sold out, so you might have to scalp tickets from a children’s librarian.

Ecologically themed art tends to be dull and sanctimonious, but not so in the hands of Wesley Younie. His idylls of environmental paradise lost abound with equal parts whimsy and intelligence. In the ...